The Stone, The Twig and The Apple
by X-IN-MIDST-OF-DEATH-IS-LIFE-X
Summary: Three maidens live with their father in the woods outside of a small kingdom. One day, the King and Queen that rule said small kingdom announce that all young ladies in the vicinity must present themselves to the princes so that they may choose a bride. Will the maidens be chosen? R&R please.


**Hello Readers! This story was for my creative writing class and I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with all of you! Please continue on reading this and tell me what you think! Also, I a relatively major re-write, no plot was changed but I did some cleaning up after my eighth grade self, plus I added some details to help clear some things up.**

Once upon a time there were three young daughters who lived with their father in the wooded enclosures of a forest that surrounded a small kingdom. The girls' mother died shortly after her youngest daughter was born, making their father a widower and his children mothers to one another. Their father worked as a town guard, which did not make him and his family much money, but it was enough for them to survive on, with the girls making and or growing what they could not afford.

The girls, although very poor, were very beautiful with their pale skin and unique coloring that each came from someone in their maternal family. The oldest girl had flowing waves of hair that was the color of golden flax and fell to her waist, which, in combination with eyes that were the color of a waterfall, made her a classic beauty very similar to her mother's sister. The middle girl, with pin straight, raven-colored, chin length hair and eyes like ivy leaves, looked the part of an exotic splendor, looked like a spitting image of her mother's mother. Finally, the youngest girl possessed loose ringlets of hair that came just past her shoulder blades and was the same tree bark coloring as her eyes, and looked rather common from afar but had a distinctive beauty about her, just like her mother.

One day, the girls' father came home from his job with a large grin, as usual, but also with a special announcement.

"My beautiful daughters," he smiled as he gave each one a hug. "Listen here, the King and Queen of our kingdom have announced that their three sons are each choosing a bride tomorrow and are requiring each girl in the area to go forth and present themselves at the sunset."

The girls nodded in understanding, knowing that if any one of them were chosen to be a bride, it would bring wealth and honor to their family, while each also secretly admiring a certain prince that they might hope would choose them. The oldest smiled when she thought of oldest prince with his dark, curly hair that reminded her of ivy vines and had eyes the color of the finest chocolate. Though she didn't know him in the slightest, he looked very sweet and funny. The middle daughter giggled at the prospect of the middle prince. She adored his wavy, wheat-colored hair and the way his eyes were the color of a summer sky. He looked serene and stable, which appealed to her wild and spontaneous side. The youngest daughter blushed at the thought of the youngest prince. His hair was the color of a dirty coin and in a state of being constantly blown by the wind, plus his eyes glittered like polished emeralds. She sighed at her imagination, for he looked like trouble, but in a way that would attract anyone in his path.

The girls, in preparation for the coming day, combed their hair and laid out their best dresses, then kissed their father goodnight and went to bed. The next morning, while the sun was just raising itself from behind the mountains, the girls awoke and began to prepare for the long journey out to the kingdom courtyard. They re-combed their hair with their finest combs, put on their finest dresses underneath their worn, patched cloaks and soon were on their way to the castle that sat on the opposite edge of the kingdom.

Several hours later, they arrived were the last to arrive at a minute before sunset. As they glanced around the courtyard, they suddenly felt terribly underdressed. While they were in their best cotton dresses, dyed with cheap, basic dye, other girls were adorned with silk and lace in exotic silver and gold. They had faux-silver combs with glass beads while the others had real gold with genuine gems. They felt so inferior that they chose to hide themselves towards the back of the cobble stone courtyard.

As the girls were moving towards the back corner, the other, better-off girls began to scoff, "Oh my dear children, if you want to impress the princes, you will have to do better than that," they laughed.

-DING-DONG-DING-DONG-DING-

The bells in the clock tower clanged five times, telling that sunset had arrived. Sure enough, the sky was pink and orange as the royal family emerged from the castle's large balcony to address their subjects that stood below.

"Hello my subjects," the King boomed, his blonde hair falling into his blue eyes that sparkled with excitement. "Today is a very special day," he smiled at his Queen.

"Yes it is," she smiled back at him. She then turned back to the crowd with her green eyes just as excited as the King's, and her caramel hair pulled back in a braided bun. "Today we have the pleasure of finding a bride for each of our sons."

"Now, we would like the pleasure of having them scout your fine daughters. First, our oldest son," the King finished. With that, the oldest prince came forth and stood at the front of the balcony with a boisterous laugh.

"Will the oldest daughter in each family please step forward?" His voice rang with the remnants of his guffaw as each of the oldest daughters stepped up to the front of the courtyard.

The oldest daughter stepped up and grinned faintly as he scanned through the rows of potential fiancées. After 15 minutes of studying each girl as thoroughly as he could from his vantage point, the prince requested that they all step down. Most girls left drudgingly, while the oldest daughter scurried back to her sisters as fast as her legs would take her. The middle prince stepped up next, looking calm.

"Will the middle daughter in each family please step forward?" His voice was quieter than the last prince, but still held a firm authority. As each of the middle daughters stepped up to the front of the courtyard, he eyed them with a respectful glance.

The middle daughter stepped up and laughed faintly as he scanned through the rows of potential fiancées. After 15 minutes of studying each girl as thoroughly as he could from his vantage point, the prince requested that they all step down. Most girls left drudgingly, while the middle daughter scurried back to her sisters as fast as her legs would take her. The youngest prince stepped up next, with a small smirk.

"Will the youngest daughter in each family please step forward?" His voice sounded like velvet, and he chuckled as some of the girls swooned at the sound of it.

The youngest daughter stepped up and blushed faintly as he scanned through the rows of potential fiancées. After 15 minutes of studying each girl as thoroughly as he could from his vantage point, the prince requested that they all step down. Most girls left drudgingly, while the youngest daughter scurried back to her sisters as fast as her legs would take her.

Soon after the youngest prince stepped back, the King and Queen reappeared.

"Thank you all for appearing tonight," they smiled, "but tomorrow we will need you all to appear here again with the first thing that you encounter outside of this courtyard on your way home. That is all," they thanked the ladies for appearing once more before returning into their rooms with their sons.

All of the other daughters soon scattered from the courtyard, disregarding the advice of the royals, far too frantic to hurry home to find the most valuable, finest things in their possession. Soon the three girls were alone waiting for their fathers shift to be over, for it was unsafe to travel through the forest alone at dark. Once the moon had risen high over the mountains, their father appeared, exhausted and ready to go home to his bed. The oldest daughter exited the courtyard to stumble upon a stone. The stone was smooth and shiny and about the size of her hand, so she picked it up and carried it home as her gift. The middle daughter exited the courtyard to stumble upon a twig. The twig was smooth and had a honey color to it and was about as long as her forearm, so she picked it up and carried it home as her gift. The youngest daughter exited the courtyard to stumble upon an apple. The apple was smooth and shiny and about the size of the youngest daughter's hand, so she picked it up and carried it home as her gift.

The next morning, while the sun was just rising behind the mountains, the girls awoke and began to prepare for the long journey out to the city courtyard. They re-combed their hair with their finest combs, put on their finest dresses underneath their worn, patchy cloaks, with their gift secured tightly in their hands, and soon were on their way.

Several hours later, they arrived were the last to arrive at a minute before sunset. As they glanced around the courtyard, they again felt terribly underdressed. While they again were in their cotton dresses, dyed with cheap, basic dye, other girls were adorned in different, more extravagant gowns with more silk and lace in brighter silver and gold than the day before. They had re-worn their faux-silver combs with glass beads while the others had new combs with more real gold with more impressive genuine gems than the day before. Not only were they were still underdressed, but this time, it appeared that no one had paid any attention to the requirements given by the King and Queen. The girls glanced around to see swords, daggers, jewels, fine metals and deeds all signed to the royal family. As they were moving towards the back corner that they hid in the day before, the other, better-off girls began to scoff, "Oh my dear children, if you want to impress the princes, you will have to do better than that," they laughed.

The young girls pulled up their hoods as they remembered their gifts and moved to place them on the large, wooden table in the middle of courtyard. The giggling and pointing continued as the girls stepped away from the table of splendors.

-DING-DONG-DING-DONG-DING-

The bells in the clock tower clanged five times, telling that sunset had arrived. Sure enough, the sky was pink and orange as the King and Queen emerged from the castle's large balcony to address their subjects that stood below. The King and Queen looked unusually unhappy as they announced that the princes would be inspecting the gifts immediately. Suddenly, the princes appeared in the courtyard walked around the table in the center, frowning ever so slightly until they reached the back of the table, where there sat a stone, a twig and an apple. They started to laugh, at first very quietly then slowly progressing to a loud round of chuckles and guffaws. The girls stood wide-eyed at the back of the courtyard, tears spilling down their cheeks from the pain of the embarrassment.

The princes sobered up enough to keep a straight face while simultaneously asking, "Will the young ladies who brought these gifts please come step forward?"

The girls immediately stopped weeping and wiped the tears from their pale faces, deciding to face to embarrassment with as much dignity as they could retain. They pulled their hoods down and walked to their sentence together, arms linked at the elbows.

"Why did you bring these gifts?" They asked with faint smiles gracing their lips as the sisters unlinked their arms.

"Because they were the first thing we encountered outside the courtyard, like we were told to do," they replied honestly, looking their respective prince straight in the eye.

The princes smiled, looked up at the courtyard's balcony where the King and Queen sat nodding, then looked down again and sighed happily.

"These are our brides." They announced together, the faint smiles turning into full-fledged grins as they linked arms the confused looking girls. While the princes showed the girls up to the balcony, the crowd started to shout:

"Why?"

"How?"

"But we brought better gifts!"

"Silence," the King boomed over the slowly growing riot, "My sons have spoken," and with that, he came and the Queen came back inside to meet their new daughters-in-law, who were waiting with the princes.

"Hello." They smiled widely at the uncomfortable girls.

"Hello." They responded shyly, barely meeting their eyes.

"It is nice to meet you. We will leave you six to converse and get to know each other before we start planning the weddings," the Queen explained with an excited clap of the hands while she and the King headed towards the door.

The girls let the door shut before looking at their prince, and now fiancée, and simultaneously asking, "Why me?"

Each prince laughed and smiled sweetly. "Because it was a test," they each replied while taking their new-found princess's hands in their own.

"A test?" The girls questioned with both their words and eyes, a small pout painted across each one of their faces.

"Yes, a test of courage, heart, soul and character," they continued to tell them how their clever mother, the Queen, devised this little test by purposely placing these items, along with others, at each exit of the courtyard to see what girls would listen and what ones disregard what was said. This very morning, before any girls could arrive, the Queen sent someone to take inventory of what remained outside the courtyard so the princes could know what to look for when they came to examine what was being presented to them today.

The girls nodded comprehensively before smiling and sitting down besides their respective fiancée, their hands still being held firmly in the grasp of their prince.

"Now that that has been settled of how we have been granted this honor," they grinned at the sarcastic emphasis that was placed on honor, "When shall we be wed?"

The princes laughed at the sudden change of subject and responded with a sincere, "As soon as possible!"

The laughter that ensured could be heard from most every corner of the castle, and when the King and Queen came in to check in on their recently expanded family, they couldn't help but join in on the joyful noise that engulfed the entire room. The girls' father, after being told of the engagement, expressed his join of his daughter finally being able to have what he always felt that they deserved. The King and Queen suggested the as their father, he should also be treated like royalty be living in the castle and never having to work again, and while he agreed to move in, he declined the early retirement and instead chose to continue doing what he loved. Wedding planning soon became the topic of conversation for everyone, and within the following months, the once very poor maidens had married and become very wealthy, but still very humble princesses, who all lived happily ever after with their father, mother and father-in-law, and most importantly, their princes.

THE END

**Well? Did you like it? And in case you couldn't tell: Charlie is the father, Rosalie is the oldest daughter, Alice is the middle daughter, Bella is the youngest daughter, Carlisle is the King, Esme is the Queen, Emmett is the oldest prince, Jasper is the middling prince, and Edward is the youngest prince. Thank you so much for reading (and possibly reviewing)!**


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